Berlin – my life-changing travel experience. (ii).

Berlin is so structured in a way, I guess it’s due to the past history. Everything is in order, the buildings seem came out of moulds, it can be quite boring. However I realized there’s some kind of differentiation in the city, graffiti and murals here and there.

Yes, the historical part of Berlin is beautiful, some buildings are quite impressive. But what impacts me the most is the subculture scene in Berlin. I joined the alternative tour in Berlin and visited some areas full of graffiti by famous artist such as Blu and Orgemeos. It was a wonderful experience. I was fortunate enough to visit Tacheles before it got closed down. There was artists who still stay in the building and keep doing what they like everyday. Their passion and determination towards street arts is so inspiring as they fight for their rights to stay in the building and keep their work of art.

I’m not sure if Tacheles still exists nowadays, as when I was there, they said some bank had bought over the land and wanted to build commercial buildings over it. It was such ashamed that street arts are not being recognized and it remained unknown to many. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it tells so much about the artist and the story behind it. No matter if it’s commercialized or not, the effort should be appreciated in every way.

Walking around Mitte and discovering different piece of work along the way is definitely good surprise afternoon. I remembered the guide being a street artist himself and he is very knowledgeable about the artists and the motivation behind the work. The art changes rapidly so there’s always something new to discover and you might able to see the artist doing a piece right there! I can’t call myself an alternative girl or underground, but I enjoyed the tour so much, it gave me a different perspective of art and I might just like street arts even more.

We ended our journey at East Side Gallery, which is where the section of Berlin Wall located as memorial for freedom. It is possibly the largest and longest-lasting open air gallery in the world and paintings from famous artists all over the world are probably there. It’s really cool to see different artworks inspired by peace, though some of it were destroyed by vandalism. I could have spent hours just walking along the site and see all the amazing arts, including the infamous My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love.

Berlin changed their own history literally overnight, how they rejected traditional approach pushes through today and created their own phase for the city. I can’t wait to visit Berlin again and see what they transform into in the future.